Asymmetrical Information

I have only read about a few letters threatening legal action.

I think http://allahakbar.blogspot.com/ has had something legalese tossed at him.

While I can't directly answer your question, I can point out that the federal courts have made it more difficult to successfully sue bloggers for libel.

Of course, it's a Ninth Circuit opinion, so I imagine we'll be hearing about the issue again in the future.

Wasn't there a Luskin-Atrios kerfuffle at some point?

Matt Drudge/Sydney Blumenthal

Several years ago, there was a successful libel suit based on by a post to Usenet. (Heck, Usenet would probably be counted as the same as a blog by a judge given some of the other rulings I've seen.) Anyway, the caveats: 1. the plaintiff won by default (defendant was a no-show) and 2. it was in Australia, so YMMV.

Also, see the Volokh Conspiracy today for a post on blogs, libel and homeowner's insurance.

I like the word "foofarow".

I have not heard of any. I am told that one avoids libel suits by prefacing all comments as opinion. For example: "Jane - you ignorant slut" is most likely an actionable cause, whereas "I think that Jane may be an ignorant slut" is not.

As long as the blogosphere is held to be a "realm of opinion mongering", then it would seem to be safe territory for getting things off your mind.

I am not an attorney.

John Galt is on the list of my most-admired men. Would that he lived today.

(Oh well - he shrugged.)

There are some long-standing web sites which are arguably blogs which concentrate on the computer industry and computer hardware. They also do testing and reviews of hardware, so they're sort-of hybrids; kind of like review magazines which are published online with the schedule of blogs.

One of my favorites is The Tech Report. I've been reading it for years.

Another one is called "HardOCP". It is in the process of defending itself against a libel suit.

And someone started a blog to follow the progress of the case.

Also, succesful suits for defamation of businesses have taken place from writings on message boards like Yahoo, its a pretty particular area having to do with stock transactions and viciously false information being posted in order to drive down stock prices.

Similar, but not exactly the same. But I would say similar enough that it could happen on Blogs so one should be careful, no doubt.

hmm....wouldn't think directtv would be in the spamming bsiness but my thoughts obviosly are not always correct.

I am told that one avoids libel suits by prefacing all comments as opinion. For example: "Jane - you ignorant slut" is most likely an actionable cause, whereas "I think that Jane may be an ignorant slut" is not.

Of course not. If that were actually the law, every sentence published everywhere would contain "IMO," and defamation law would be eviscerated. I could say, "IMO, Ronaldus Magnus kicks puppies and has sex with sheep, oh, and he robbed a bank," and I'd be in the clear.

The issue is whether an ordinary listener/reader would understand the statement to be making an assertion of fact.

An assertion of fact remains an assertion of fact whether the word "opinion" is there or not. An assertion of opinion remains an assertion of opinion whether the word "opinion" is there or not. E.g. "This restaurant stinks" is an opinion; adding the words "in my opinion" is unnecessary.

"This restaurant is a death trap. It has health code violations galore and the entrees are made from rat feces. Oh, and it's a mafia front for money-laundering, too." is an assertion of fact; adding the words "in my opinion" will not make it an opinion.

Comments are Closed.